Equinor pledges $264M in local funding for wind farm off Nassau's South Shore

The developer of an offshore wind farm planned for the waters off Nassau’s South Shore on Tuesday said it is proposing a $264 million package for hosting a 3.3 mile cable and infrastructure for the $3 billion project amid calls by some to slow the approval process to assess its impacts.

The package, which a top official on Tuesday described as a “starting point” in negotiations, would include $55 million in payments to local communities and between $8 million and $9 million a year in property tax payments over 25 years, developer Equinor told Newsday on Tuesday.

Norway-based Equinor’s Empire Wind 2 project would be located more than 20 miles from the South Shore from Long Beach to points east and south, and provide enough power for up to 700,000 homes when it's in service by 2027. The cable would make landfall at Long Beach and traverse 3.3 miles to a substation in Island Park, connecting at the E.F. Barrett power plant.

Empire 2 would be located directly behind Equinor’s proposed Empire 1 project around 14 nautical miles from the Long Island shore. Empire I proposes to deliver its energy to the New York City grid via a connecting point in Brooklyn. The combined projects will rely on more than 130 turbines nearly 900-feet high located from 15 to 30 miles from shore.

“This is the starting point” of talks, said Molly Morris, president of Equinor Wind U.S. in an interview with Newsday, suggesting elements of the package are open for negotiation. “This is where we want to start the dialogue. We are committed to these local communities and want to be a partner here.”

She added, "We really want the input from the local communities on where this investment can make the most impact."  

The move comes amid opposition to the project. Rep. Anthony D’Esposito (R-Island Park), said he met with Equinor officials last week to discuss the project and the more than 150 constituent calls he has received about it. 

“There are a lot of questions,” D’Esposito said, including about the structure of payments, impacts on whales and cables running under local streets. Pointing to a $168.9 million project recently negotiated by Brookhaven Town for Sunrise Wind earlier this month, D’Esposito said the direct payments to Long Beach and Island Park are “not anywhere near what was put forth in Brookhaven.”

D’Esposito has signed on to a House bill that contemplates a moratorium on offshore wind projects until studies and an investigation can be done on impacts of the projects on the environment, fishing communities and national defense. The bill has little chance of advancing in the Democratic-controlled Senate or getting signed by Democratic President Joe Biden, who has championed and accelerated offshore wind projects. 

Morris said the company is committed to working with government and local communities to answer questions and to fund investments.

“We are really viewing this project as a partnership with the communities and with New York state for the long term,” Morris said. “We are also planning to commit to engage with the community as the project moves ahead,” including with local events and initiatives.

Equinor is committing a separate $4 million across Long Island to fund regional training and workforce development programs, she said.

A Long Beach City official didn't immediately return a call seeking comment Tuesday. 

Danielle Higman, Equinor's commercial lead for Empire Wind 2, said the project would make Equinor one of the largest taxpayers in the region, adding that the concept of "sustained" annual tax payments of $8.5 million to $9 million a year over the 25-year contract was deemed "more beneficial to the community" than a larger upfront payment such as Brookhaven has negotiated."

Higman said Equinor will work with local municipal leaders to devise how best to spend the $55 million in direct payments, which will come even before the project delivers energy. Around $7.5 million each would be almost immediately available to the City of Long Beach and the Village of Island Park, she said. 

Equinor says the combined projects will contribute to an estimated $2.5 billion in investments to the state economy and create hundreds of local jobs while building a supply chain.

The company in the past had proposed building large concrete foundations for its turbines at an Albany port, but subsequently switched the plan to tower foundations that must be pile-driven into the ocean floor, a move that irked some conservation groups concerned about sound impacts on sea mammals.

More recently, plans for a proposed offshore wind tower manufacturing facility at the Port of Albany were reported to be "uncertain" after the project's backers said soaring costs led it to ask the state for more money to fund it, according to published reports. Empire Wind and another Equinor project, Beacon Wind, had planned to use towers from that facility. Morris said Equinor is now “assessing different opportunities” for manufacturing. Towers could still be produced there, she said, or it could be used for “manufacturing for a different part of the supply chain.”

By Mark Harrington

mark.harrington@newsday.comMHarringtonNews

Mark Harrington, a Newsday reporter since 1999, covers energy, wineries, Indian affairs and fisheries.